Sand and Flowers
by Crimson Eyed Sakura
Summary: Ino's the representative for Konoha now that Shikamaru and Temari have gotten married. What happens when Kankuro enters the picture? Hot tempers, cold attitudes, and poor Gaara keeps getting stuck in the middle! Will they ever get together?


_**...Complete randomness...lol. i like this pairing so i decided to write a fic about it. its hard tho bc Ino and kankuro don't have much spotlight in the anime so its kinda hard to get the personalities right. **_

**this is set...hmm...like in shippuden i guess. Gaara is Kazekage and Temari and shika are married. Asuma isn't dead. he and kurenai are married and expecting their first baby. naru and hina are together. Tsunade is grooming Naruto to be the 6th Hokage any more q's...just ask in a review or PM.**

**Naruto is not owned by me.**

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**Sand and Flowers**

**Chapter One**

Ino Yamanaka walked through the busy streets of Suna, looking for the person who was _supposed_ to take her to her room. The idiot had stranded her in the middle of nowhere, telling her to "use her shinobi skills" to get to the Kazekage mansion. '_I am _soooo _telling Gaara about this! And Temari and Shikamaru, too!' _Ino thought to herself. The deadly aura emanating from her warned the people she passed not to mess with her. Unfortunately for them, a few of the local non-shinobi boys tried to jump Ino. The leader grabbed Ino's arm, trying to pull her into the alley they had come out of. The four punks were unconscious before they even hit the ground.

Finally, Ino got tired of walking around aimlessly and stalked over to the tallest building she could find. After going up to the roof, she saw that the Kazekage mansion actually wasn't that far away. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, she made her way there. Standing on the roof of the building she had spent all day trying to find, Ino attempted to get her temper in check. But every time she even thought about the infuriating jerk who had stranded her, her anger shot up another notch. It was dark by the time she decided to act on her anger. She snuck down the side of the building and tried to find her prey's room. About halfway down the side of the building, she found the window to his room.

_'Look at that jerk! He's asleep in his warm bed and I'm out here in the cold. I can't believe the nerve of this guy!' _Ino thought. She quietly opened the window and snuck inside. Seeing a screwdriver, she picked it up. After looking at it thoughtfully for a few minutes, an evil glint appeared in her eyes. She looked at her prey, assuring herself he was asleep. To be safe, she cast a silencing jutsu around herself and the object of her evilness. She turned and got to work on the jerk's payback.

The next morning, Ino was jerked awake by a loud male scream echoing through the halls. After a second, she smirked in recognition. _'That'll teach him to mess with Ino Yamanaka!' _

Just as Ino was laying back down to sleep, her door burst open and an irate Kankuro marched into her room, holding pieces of his favorite puppet. "What did you DO?!" he screamed at her.

"Why do you think I did anything? I've been asleep since I got back from BEING LOST!" Ino screamed back at him.

"You ruined my puppet! I can't even get it back together!" Kankuro yelled.

"Oh, settle down. I can fix it. Just give a few minutes and I'll come to your room to fix the darn thing," Ino said with a sigh.

Kankuro looked angry enough to blow up. "No! You're coming with me NOW!" He dropped the puppet parts and marched to Ino's bed. Ino jumped back and jerked the covers up to her chin. Kankuro grabbed them and pulled, yanking them away from Ino. For a second, he stared at her. Then, a shrill scream echoed through his ears and forced him to drop the sheets in favor of saving his eardrums. Ino grabbed the blankets and pulled them quickly back up to her chin, curling into a ball to prevent any skin from showing.

Temari ran into the room. "What did you do to her, Kankuro?" she asked when she saw Ino's state.

Said male still looked a bit shocked. "I...didn't know. I...uh...sorry!" he yelled as he ran out of the room to hide his blush.

Temari walked over to Ino's side. "What the hell happened, Ino?"

Blushing like a tomato, Ino said quietly, "I didn't wear my clothes to bed last night. I was so tired from walking around all day, all I did when I got to my room was strip off my dirty clothes and crawl into bed. I figured I would be up and dressed before anybody came in. And all he did was stare at me! Jerk," Ino said forcefully.

Temari laughed a bit. "Ino, you have to understand something. That was most likely the first time Kankuro has _ever _seen a girl naked. He's too shy to ask girls out and a lot of the girls here think his puppets are weird and creepy. He takes offense easily when it comes to his puppets so he won't even look at half the girls around here. I can bet he's in his room blushing like...well...you!" Temari laughed when Ino glared at her. Getting up, Temari pulled some clothes from Ino's closet. "Wear this. It'll help in the heat." After that, the blonde Suna kunoichi left the blonde Konoha kunoichi to her thoughts.

Ino sighed and got out of the bed. She picked up the outfit Temari had chosen and walked to the bathroom to shower. Washing the sand out her hair, she sighed and thought back to when she had left Konoha.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **(FLASHBACK!)** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A month before Ino had left Konoha, Shikamaru and Temari had finally gotten married. It had been decided that, during the first year after their marriage, someone from Konoha would take Temari's place. Ino had volunteered for the job, thinking it would get her away from the various guys who were stalking her and wouldn't leave her alone. Tsunade had looked a bit surprised that Ino had volunteered, but then remembered how many complaints she had gotten from Ino; _then_ she remembered how many of the poor saps 'courting' Ino had ended up in the hospital. Most had suffered from poisoning from ninja flowers -- obviously Ino's work; some had been pummeled -- Sakura's doing, no doubt. A good bit of them had suffered from various slashes, making Tsunade lift an eyebrow when she noticed the female Suna nin's handiwork.

In the end, Ino got the job and spent her time just walking around the village, committing everything to memory. The place in the park where she and Sakura had met; the place in the woods where she and Sakura became rivals; where she met Asuma-sensei and her team. Everywhere she looked there was a memory attached to the place.

Finally, her feet led her to the place she had met Kankuro after the drama from the Chuunin Exams had died down. It was a flower field at the edge of Konoha, and Ino had been picking some new blooms for the flower shop. Kankuro had showed up and they had just sat there, Ino picking flowers and Kankuro messing with those puppets of his. They hadn't said a word to each other until they were leaving. Kankuro had told her it had been nice, just sitting there and not having to listen to people bickering. Ino had agreed and, on impulse, kissed Kankuro's cheek. She blushed and disappeared in a rain of purple flower petals. Kankuro stood there for a moment, fingers brushing the spot Ino's lips had touched.

Blushing at the memory and looking down at her toes, Ino didn't notice when Gaara walked up behind her.

"You like him, don't you?" Gaara asked. Ino jumped in surprise.

"I- I don't know what you're talking about!" Ino said.

Gaara smirked. "He likes you, too. He won't admit it to anyone, though."

Ino turned and blushed. "You...you really think so?"

"He spaces out sometimes and ends up saying your name, so I guess so," Gaara said. He watched as Ino sat down in the middle of the field, open blooms surrounding her. It didn't take much to figure out why Kankuro had a crush on her. He looked around uncomfortably for a moment, then sat down a little ways away from her. "You didn't answer my question. Do you like him?"

Ino blushed as red as possible, until Gaara honestly thought her head would explode. "Yeah," she whispered. ...Then blushed again and abruptly stood. Quickly muttering a good-bye, she hastily formed a set of hand seals and disappeared in a flurry of purple flower petals.

'Gaara' smirked and released the _Henge_. Kankuro raised a fist in the air and yelled, "Yeah!!" Looking around a bit sheepishly when he heard birds taking off in fright, he stood up and made his way back to his room.

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The next day, Tsunade announced that Ino would travel with the two Sand ninja who had stayed after the wedding to escort her. Ino went home to gather her things. She tried to be quick because she knew that the two Suna boys were itching to get home. She watered her plants and wrote a note for her parents. They had said they would watch after her place until she got back. She wanted to make sure neither of them killed her plants.

Struggling out the door of her place with her luggage, Ino cursed herself for wanting to bring so much stuff. She set her suitcases on the ground then turned around to lock her door. After securing the house, she backed up a step and tripped over her luggage. Arms flailing, she let out a short yelp. She closed her eyed to brace for the impact...which never came. Opening one eye, she realized she was being held by two strong arms. Looking up in surprise, she saw a grinning Kankuro holding her up.

He gently lifted her up and set her on her feet. "Gaara sent me to see what was taking so long. It's a good thing, too, or else you could've gotten hurt. Klutz," he said with a small smile.

Ino turned up her nose. "I can handle myself, you know. But...thanks...I guess," she said a bit sheepishly.

Kankuro grinned and picked up two of her suitcases. "Damn. What the hell do you have in here, bricks?"

Ino laughed and picked up the remaining case then started off down the street. "No. Just the essentials."

Kankuro stared at her for a minute before running a bit to catch up with her.

They walked in silence. Kankuro kept sneaking glances at the pretty blonde by his side.

Finally, they got to the gates. Gaara said nothing as Kankuro put Ino's things in the back of the cart they were bringing. Finally, the little group set out.

A few hours later, the amiable mood between Ino and Kankuro had turned into an all-out verbal war. Various insults could be heard, the female's shrill voice echoing off of canyon walls and scaring birds for miles around.

And poor Gaara was caught in the middle of it. Literally. Kankuro had made him sit between the two after Ino called him weird. Finally, tired of the noise, Gaara covered both of their mouths with sand. When they began clawing at it, Gaara tightened the sand. They got the hint and dropped their hands. For the next four hours until dark, Gaara enjoyed the peace, broken occasionally by a muffled scream or curse.

After being released, Kankuro helped Gaara pitch the tent. Ino went in search of firewood. The boys pitched the tent and sat down. Five minutes went by. Ino still wasn't back.

Kankuro groaned when Gaara looked at him pointedly. "Fine, I'll go." He stood up and went off in the direction Ino had first taken. A few yards away from the camp, he heard her whimpering. He broke off into a run and found her sitting on the ground, covered in cuts and holding her left leg. He dropped to his knees in front of her. "What the hell happened, Ino?"

Ino jumped and looked up at him with fearful eyes. "I was getting firewood and some men came and surrounded me. One of the grabbed me and tried to force me to go with them. I kicked him in the leg as hard as I could and he went down screaming. The others just stood there for a minute, then they all sort of jumped at me. A few of them had knives and the tried to stab me. A couple cut me pretty bad. I used to watch Sakura-chan and Tsunade-sama training. I got caught so Tsunade-sama let me train with them. I learned to use chakra to enhance my strength. So I hit the ground and made a crater. The others got scared after that and ran off. But one guy stayed. He slapped me and pushed me down. Then he stomped on my leg and broke it. He pinned me to the ground and was saying how I was going to pay, but then I guess he heard you running and he left." Ino latched onto Kankuro's arm and burst into tears. "I thought he was going to rape me!"

Kankuro held Ino for a few minutes, then picked her up, careful of her broken leg. He carried her back to the camp and asked Gaara to spread her sleeping back by the fire. Kankuro placed Ino on the bag gently. She cried out when her leg was jarred. Gaara handed her a bottle of sake and told her to drink some. After she had fallen asleep, Kankuro and Gaara had a discussion. One thing they decided right away was that Ino wouldn't be going off on her own again. Another was that they needed to find a medic. They seemed to have forgotten that Ino herself was one. Finally, Kankuro went to sleep. (Gaara's an insomniac, remember?).

The next morning, Ino woke up before Kankuro. Gaara was gone, probably off to find more wood. Sitting up, Ino took stock of her injuries. Her leg was broken in two places, she had a couple shallow cuts, a few deep ones, and one that might need stitches. She started healing the deepest cut. When it was about halfway healed, she moved on to the leg. Healing bones was tricky. For her at least. She placed both hands on her leg above the first break. She sent her chakra inside to pull the bones to their rightful places, then begin knitting the two pieces together. She screamed when the bones grated against each other. She broke out into a sweat and gritted her teeth.

Kankuro woke with a start when Ino screamed. He looked around and saw her bent over her leg, hands glowing green. He got up and walked over to her. He sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Ino felt his chakra enter her body, helping hers to heal the break. All of a sudden, there was a green flash. When the light faded, Ino was laying on top of Kankuro and her leg and all the cuts were completely healed.

Kankuro groaned and opened his eyes. He was lying flat on his back with Ino on top of him. He sat up and Ino ended up in his lap.

Ino looked up at him with wide eyes. "Everything's healed, Kankuro. I don't know how...but that flash must've been an explosion of chakra or something." She blushed when she realized she was sitting in his lap. She looked up at him, cheeks red and eyes wide, and he bent his head down to kiss her.

When their lips met, it was like a catalyst. Fire rushed through Ino's veins, making her blood boil. Kankuro pulled her closer to him, needing to feel her skin. His hand slipped under her shirt and ran up her spine, feeling the heat of her skin. Ino moaned softly at how it felt to have his hands touching her skin. The two were broken apart by a cough a few feet away. They looked up and jumped apart when they saw it was Gaara.

The youngest Sand sibling looked at his older brother with a bit amusement. "Looks like I can't leave her alone with you, Kankuro," he said. It made his day to see his big brother blushing like a kid.

Ino blushed and stood up shakily. Kankuro stood and helped her to the cart, then returned to the camp to help Gaara pack up. They made good time, traveling halfway to Suna from their camp by nightfall. This time, Gaara and Ino set up camp while Kankuro gathered wood. The next morning, Kankuro got up a bit early. He crawled out of the tent to see Ino sitting by the dwindling fire. Kankuro looked around as he walked over to where Ino sat and plopped onto the ground beside her. Gaara was gone again. Kankuro took advantage of the fact and pulled Ino to him and pressed his lips to hers. At first, Ino returned the kiss. Then, Kankuro pulled her into his lap.

Ino froze when she felt something hard rub against her leg. She tensed when she felt Kankuro's hand moving up her leg, brushing just underneath the edge of her skirt. Her shock turned to anger. She slapped Kankuro and jumped to the other side of the camp. "Pervert!"

Kankuro sat there holding his cheek. He got angry. "You weren't saying that earlier. Or yesterday. Why the change, Ino?"

Ino blushed. "I didn't know you were a pervert."

Kankuro's eyes flashed. He stalked over to her and grabbed her shoulders, ignoring how she flinched away from his anger. He shook her a bit. "Dammit, Ino. I'm n--"

Ino cut him off by shoving him away with chakra-enhanced strength. Kankuro flew across the clearing and hit a tree. He slowly got up from where he had slid to the ground. "Fine. I get it. Leave the stuck-up bitch alone."

Ino closed her tear-filled eyes to prevent the tears from falling. How many times had she heard that in the last three years? Every guy was the same. They acted like they liked her as a person, but on the second or third date, they all gave her an ultimatum: sleep with me or I'm gone. So far, all the guys had been disappointed. One had tried to force himself on her, but a passing Jounin had heard her screams and jumped in to save her. Ino bit her lip. _"I thought he was different!"_ she thought as the tears began running down her cheeks. She opened her eyes and gasped when she saw Gaara standing in front of her, facing his brother.

Kankuro started forward, but Gaara stopped him with a sand wall. He turned a bit to glance back at Ino. "Go get your things. We'll be behind you in a few minutes, after I have a..._chat_...with big brother."

Ino nodded as the tears covered her cheeks. She ran back to the tent and packed her things, then went to wait by the cart, petting the horse that had been pulling it for the last few days.

Gaara released his brother and glared at him. Kankuro wouldn't meet his eyes. Gaara used his sand to force Kankuro's face up, then wrapped the rest of the sand around the puppet-user's body. "If you hurt that girl again, I will kill you. She did nothing to you except push you away. You had no right to speak to her in any such way, or to harm her." He released Kankuro and walked over to the tent.

Kankuro stood there wheezing for a moment, getting his breath back after being squeezed by the sand. "I don't get it. Why do you suddenly care?"

Gaara didn't spare him a glance, but kept working to fold the tent up. "She is my best friend's crush's best friend. If she gets hurt, Sakura gets angry. Sakura gets angry, Naruto gets angry. Naruto angry is not a good thing." **(Dude...i just so totally confused myself. lol. to explain 'best friend's crush's best friend' : Naruto is Gaara's best friend. sakura is Naruto's crush. Ino is Sakura's best friend. got it? confused? lol.) (and i just realized that, for a girl, i say dude a lot. and also there's the fact that ppl stopped saying it like..**_**years**_** ago. lol)**

Kankuro looked confused for a minute, then realization dawned on his face. He finished packing without once looking at his brother.

The rest of the trip to Suna was a silent one. Gaara was the most talkative of the group. About ten minutes before they reached the village, Ino stretched her arms and accidentally bumped Kankuro, who was sitting - reluctantly - beside her. He exploded and started cursing at her, which made her angry. So the two were yelling and cursing at each other and not noticing Gaara, who was quickly looking more and more murderous. Finally, tired of the bickering, he clapped sand over their mouths once again.

He glared at them. "If you two don't stop with the noise, I'm going to end up killing you. I won't have you two causing a stir in the village, so if you want to kill each other, go into the desert, away from here. Now shut up," he said in a cold voice.

The blonde and the brunette looked at each other, then at Gaara, and nodded. He released their mouths and sat back down. A minute later, they were at the gates of the village. Right away, Gaara was being ushered to a council meeting. He turned and told Kankuro to show Ino to her room, then followed the messenger, leaving Ino and Kankuro alone. The two stood there for a minute. Kankuro glared at Ino and stalked off.

Ino stared after him, then yelled, "What are you doing? How am I supposed to find my way to the Kazekage mansion?"

Kankuro glanced back briefly. "Use your shinobi skills. If you have any."

Ino gasped and tried to catch up with him, but he had disappeared.

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And so, here she was. In a foreign country with nothing but strangers. She had been so excited at first, but now she just wanted to go home. Sure, Shikamaru had moved here after his wedding, but he was focused on Temari right now. She couldn't wait until she had the chance to go back home.

Ino was jerked out of her musings when the door opened. She peeked out of the shower and saw Kankuro with his back to her. She emitted a short scream and jerked the shower curtain back in place.

Kankuro jumped a bit. "Sheesh, Temari. I didn't know you could scream like a girl."

"I'm not Temari, you dolt! Get out of here!" Ino screamed from behind the shower curtain.

Kankuro froze. "No shit? Ah, hell. Temari'll have my head for this. Sorry, Ino."

Ino heard the door open and close. She sighed and finished her shower. Wrapping a towel around herself, she pulled the shower curtain back and stepped out of the shower. She hurried over to the door and locked it, then dried off and pulled her clothes on. The outfit Temari had picked out was a bit uncomfortable, since Ino hadn't worn it in years. Like most of her clothes, it was purple. Her top was little more than a sports bra, and her skirt was scandalously short. Ino sighed and stripped again, then walked into her room naked. She rambled through her bags until she found her bandages. She wrapped some around her legs, from her hips to about mid-thigh. She wrapped her chest and abdomen, then pulled her clothes on. She added some purple sandals and a purple flower in her hair. **(I just realized how bad i suck at thinking up ****outfits. lol.) **

A knock on the door made Ino look up from where she stood in front of the full-length mirror in her room. She had been trying to decide whether or not the outfit was suitable. She sighed and walked over to open the door. Shikamaru stood there, hand behind his head and looking like he was doing something _troublesome._

When the door opened, he looked up and his eyes widened at the sight of Ino. "What the hell are you wearing, Ino? The last time I saw that that outfit was before the Chuunin Exams. I'm not letting you out of here until you change into something more appropriate."

Ino sighed. She knew he was right, but it was getting annoying to have 'Big-brother Shikamaru' always getting on her case. "Fine. How 'bout you pick it out? That way you don't have to worry."

Shikamaru just sighed and plopped down on Ino's bed. "It's too troublesome."

Ino sighed and went to her closet. She rambled through it and finally found something she knew Shikamaru would approve of. It was basically a modified version of her Genin outfit. She went into the bathroom and changed, then walked out for Shikamaru to judge it. "How's this, oh 'Wise One'?"

Shikamaru opened one eye. "That's better. You really shouldn't show much skin here. A lot of the guys I've seen are woman-hungry. I don't want anything to happen to my favorite female teammate."

Ino rolled her eyes. "That's saying a lot. I'm your _only_ female teammate."

"That's the point. Well, I have to go before Temari gets worried." He pushed himself reluctantly off of Ino's bed. He waved goodbye lazily as he walked out the door. Ino just rolled her eyes again.

Ino looked around her room to see if she had forgotten anything. She had her headband, earrings, and ID. She picked up her wallet and left the room. Walking down the hall, she heard a grunt and a frustrated scream. She walked by an open door and saw Kankuro sitting on the floor with a screwdriver in his mouth, trying to put Kuroari **(sp?)** back together. He was wearing boxers and a wife-beater and his Kabuki **(sp?)** face-paint was gone.

Ino leaned against the doorframe. She watched him for a minute as he connected two pieces of an arm and screwed them together. He let go of one piece and groaned again as it fell away from the other piece. "Let me do it. There's a certain way you do it. And it might help if I took the ninjutsu off of it, huh?" Ino asked with a wry smile as she took the screwdriver from between Kankuro's lips. She put the handle of it in her mouth while she formed the hand seal to dispel the jutsu.

Kankuro stared at Ino's lips. _"She put it in her mouth...exactly where I had mine. God, she tastes so good!"_ Kankuro shook his head to clear it of his thoughts as Ino took the screwdriver from her mouth and set to work.

Unlike Kankuro, Ino started at the bottom. She looked sheepishly at him. "It's kind of like a puzzle. When I was kid, I had a friend who moved to Konoha from here. She showed me how to make a puzzle out of disassembling a puppet. I learned a lot from her. I knew you would probably start at the top and work your way down. So, I went in the opposite direction."

Kankuro stared at her for a second. He watched in silence as she put his puppet back together. When she was done, he shook his head. Ino looked up and smiled. She stood up, brushed off her clothes, and handed the screwdriver back to Kankuro. Then she turned and walked out without another word. Kankuro shook his head again and cleaned up his room a bit. When he was done, he sealed the newly-fixed puppet into a scroll and went to practice with it.

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Ino walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where she saw Temari cooking breakfast and Gaara sitting at the table, playing with sand like a bored little kid. When he heard her, Gaara dropped the sand quickly and looked up at her. Ino smiled. "It's okay, Gaara. I think it's cool that you can control the sand like that."

Gaara --and Temari, who had turned to greet Ino -- looked surprised at Ino's words. Ino felt her cheeks heat up. "What did I say?"

Temari smiled at her. "It's just that nobody has ever anything like that to him. Most people here are scared of Gaara. Not many people have noticed that he's different than he used to be."

Ino looked at Gaara. He was staring down at the table, swishing the sand from side to side. Looking closely, Ino saw that Gaara was _blushing!_

Ino smiled. She turned to look at Temari and told her that she was going out for a while. After she walked out, Gaara looked up at his sister. "Can we keep her? She's nice."

Temari laughed and saw an answering amusement in her youngest brother's eyes. "Well, that's all up to that bone-head brother of ours. I know she likes him. And it's pretty obvious he likes her, too."

Temari's eyed lit up. "I forgot to tell you! He saw her naked this morning!"

Gaara choked on the piece of toast he had taken a bite of. "W-what?!"

Temari smiled knowingly. "She dismantled one of his puppets last night. This morning, he busted into her room and ended up jerking her blanket off the bed. Ino said he just froze when he saw her."

Gaara shook his head. "Damn."

Temari scowled and hit Gaara with a dishtowel. "What have I told you about cussing? You're not old enough."

Gaara rolled his eyes at the motherly tone in her voice.

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Kankuro stood in his private arena, which his father had built when he was a kid. Each of the kids had gotten their own place to train that was built with their specific abilities in mind. Kankuro panted and wiped the sweat from his brow. He was sparring with another puppet user, a master. Kankuro was getting his ass handed to him. Big time. Even with the new features that he had installed in Kuroari, his opponent was just too good. Finally, he called out, "I give! You win."

Baki stepped out into the arena. "Well, that was disappointing, Kankuro. I had thought you would be better by now."

Kankuro snarled and shot a poison senbon at the man. Baki caught it easily. However, he nearly got hit by the senbon hidden in the shadow of the first one. He smirked. "At the very least, you should be able to scratch him, Kankuro. I would hate to hear what your father would say."

Kankuro, already angry, howled his rage and manipulated Kuroari to charge his 'sensei'. Kankuro hated to have his father brought up. He _knew_ he was a disappointment. He didn't have to have it thrown up in his face all the time. He tried. Really, he did! But he just couldn't seem to get any further in his training.

Baki smirked again and held one hand up. Chakra strings shot forth and latched onto the charging puppet, but he couldn't control it. Kankuro had the puppet under his complete control. Baki's smirk slipped and he jumped, barely dodging the blade that had sliced through the air where his body had been seconds before. Before he could be seriously injured, he hurriedly left the arena, leaving Kankuro shaking with anger.

The master came up and laid a hand on Kankuro's shoulder. "Control your rage, young one. You will only regret the things that come of it." With that, the old man left.

Kankuro collapsed onto the sandy floor. He fell backwards and just lay there, staring up at the ceiling. He turned on his side and traced a pattern through the sand, not really noticing how the sand was gravitating towards his finger. A door opened, making Kankuro sit up and look around. He saw a blonde head poke through the doorway. Smiling he called out, "You can come on in, Ino. It's just me."

Ino opened the door all the way and blushed. "Sorry, Kankuro. I was just curious about what was in here. I didn't know anybody was here."

"It's okay, Ino. This is my training arena. It was built just for me. Gaara and Temari each have one of their own." Kankuro stood up and went to another door. "You want something to drink?" he asked as he opened the door to reveal a kitchen of sorts.

Ino nodded and walked over to where Kankuro stood. "That would be nice, thanks."

Kankuro took Ino by the arm and led her into the room. She saw a couch and plopped down onto it. Kankuro opened the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water then sat down beside Ino. The two sat in silence for a while. Finally, Kankuro looked over at Ino. "Hey, Ino...I'm sorry I called you a stuck-up bitch. I was angry and in pain and I didn't really mean it."

Ino looked down at her hands. She would never tell him how much that had actually hurt her. She swallowed. "I-it's okay, Kankuro. I was wrong to call you a pervert and throw you like that. You were right, I didn't say no. I was just scared. I've nearly been raped at least twice in my lifetime. Sakura said there was another time, but I don't remember it. When you...I mean, when I felt -- oh, this is hard. Okay," Ino began, taking a deep breath, "When I felt your hand on my leg, all of that stuff just came rushing back. I felt like I was back in the forest, in my living room, when those jerks tried to force themselves on me. I just...freaked out. And I'm sorry. I know you're not like that, but I couldn't help it."

Kankuro felt a deep, boiling rage run through him at the mention of the attempted rape. "Wait...your living room?"

Ino looked down again. "Y-yeah. Some jerk from Konoha I went on a date with. On the second date, he tried to get me to invite him in, but I wouldn't. He got angry and shoved me inside, then pushed me down onto the couch. He tried to reach under my skirt, but I had on leggings underneath it, so he couldn't. Finally, I regained enough sense to scream, and a Jonin -- Genma, I think -- heard me. He busted in and beat the guy up, then carried me to the hospital. After that, Asuma-sensei insisted I learn self-defense."

Kankuro wrapped his arm around Ino as she shuddered. She buried her head in his chest as sobs wracked her body. Kankuro pressed a kiss to Ino's temple and just held her while she cried.

A short while later, Ino dried her tears and apologized - many times - for crying all over Kankuro. He just smiled and shook his head. The two walked back to the mansion and parted ways, each going to their respective rooms.

Ino flopped onto her bed and fell asleep nearly instantly. Kankuro took out his puppet and looked it over again, just to make sure nothing had been damaged in his sparring match. He found a mark on the bottom of Kuraori's foot, something like a square with an eye in the middle. He got up and walked to Ino's room to ask her about it. He knocked on the door, then walked in when nobody answered. He found the blonde fast asleep on top of her bed, snoring softly. He smirked a bit and walked over to the chair in front of the desk in the corner of the room. He pulled the chair beside the bed and sat down, waiting for Ino to wake up. After watching the girl sleep for a few minutes, he started to get sleepy himself. He stood up and walked over to the bed and brushed his fingers over Ino's face. She mumbled something quietly and grabbed his hand.

Kankuro looked around to see if anybody was in the room with them. He tugged at his arm, then frowned when Ino wouldn't let go. In fact, she was pulling him toward her! Even in her sleep, Ino was strong -- a fact that Kankuro was now aware of. Finally, Kankuro gave in and sat down on the bed beside Ino. The sleeping girl smiled and cuddled up to Kankuro, then frowned when he moved away. A few seconds later, Ino was smiling again as Kankuro lay down beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He listened to Ino's even breathing for a while. Finally, he drifted off to sleep himself.

* * *

**This is probably the longest chapter I've ever written. I've been stuck on my other story, Tears of the Unworthy, though, so every time i lost inspiration, I'd come to this one and write some. after this, I'll probably finish the second chapter of Rain. lol. **

**okay...NO FLAMES! reviews are good, but I'm not gonna beg or nothing. lol.**

**anyways...thanks for taking the time to read this. if you loved it, GREAT! if you liked it, good. if you didn't...oh well. sorry it sucked.**

**+!\C/\E/\S/!+**

**After being flamed by Flame Rising (and reading through his forum), i decided to rewrite part of this story. In no way do I condone his methods of flaming, but I do respect the opinion his flame represented. (and I'm not just trying to talk like an adult. i really do use big words like that all the time). **

**If anyone reading this has any suggestions on how I can improve this story, please say so. I love hearing what you guys do and don't like about my stuff.**

**Thanks to Sylence for the advice!!**


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